Musculoskeletalnomics

Description: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is hosting a public hearing on a proposal to revise its Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting regulation by restoring a column on the OSHA Form 300 to better identify work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

First: OSHA has proposed revising its recordkeeping regulation to restore the column for musculoskeletal disorders (MSD’s) on the OSHA 300 Log that employers use to record workplace injuries and illnesses. The proposed rule would require employers to check the MSD column if the case is recordable under the regulation’s general requirements and the case meets the definition of an MSD. It appears from press reports that our announcement of this effort may have confused some observers. So, let me be clear: This is not a prelude to a broader ergonomics standard. OSHA is simply restoring the musculoskeletal disorders column to the OSHA 300 log as the recordkeeping standard, issued in 2001, originally intended.

MSD’s continue to be a major problem for American workers. They’re real and they’re hurting a lot of people. OSHA believes that putting the MSD column back on the log will improve the Nation’s occupational injury and illness statistics as well as provide useful information that workers and employers can use to better identify musculoskeletal disorders in their workplaces. However, at this time, OSHA has no plans for regulatory activity.